Stringing of fiber optic cables has begun that will improve Internet speeds and accessibility in Monroe County as part of a larger statewide enhancement.

Schools, nonprofit organizations and local governments should have access to faster Internet connections in Monroe County by the end of the year.

Crews are stringing fiber-optic cable in various parts of the county as part of Merit Network Inc.'s effort to build a fiber-optic network covering 2,200 miles in Michigan to improve access and speed of broadband service.

Starting last week, crews began stringing cable to link Petersburg and Blissfield as part of a route that eventually will tie Monroe to Hillsdale.

"We're starting to string fiber from Blissfield to Petersburg," said Elwood Downing, vice president of member relations, communications and services or Merit Network. He said the work will be along roadways, but shouldn't impede traffic "because most of the time the right-of-way and cable for the poles is pretty far off the road. There's no digging being done along that particular stretch."

Construction in that area will last up to three weeks at most, he said. FiberLink of Lapeer is the contractor. Typically, crews will put pegs or fittings on utility poles and then another crew follows behind, stringing cable, Mr. Downing said. "It's a pretty fast process."

The work will take cable continuously west to Adrian and Hillsdale.

Meanwhile, plans are under way to tie Monroe to fiber-optic lines running north from Toledo. From Monroe, the cable will be extended to Petersburg, following a course through Adrian to Hillsdale. Great Lakes Comnet of East Lansing is doing the installation from Monroe to Petersburg.

"We hope to have it done before the end of the calendar year," Mr. Downing said.

Merit then will be able to provide service to government agencies, schools and non-profits along the route where service now is slow or non-existent. Service to homes and businesses in will be able to branch off from the main cable routes being installed and existing commercial Internet service providers should be able to increase their data speeds for customers.

The Monroe Intermediate School District now gets its e-mail through Merit while the Monroe County Library System and Monroe County Community College get both e-mail and Internet service.

Merit was the first non-commercial provider of Internet service in Monroe County when it tied a line into the Monroe County Library System about 16 years ago.

The statewide initiative by Merit will include service to much of the Upper Peninsula with spurs into Wisconsin and Minnesota. The network is being developed with the help of two American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants totaling $102 million, along with a 20 percent matching contribution from Merit and seven sub-recipients.

The network development project is one of the largest broadband technology opportunity programs in the United States and is expected to serve 52 of Michigan's 83 counties in both the Upper and Lower Peninsulas.

Monroe Events
click to expand

About

We're an afternoon daily with morning weekend editions. Monroe County is our specialty. The Monroe News is your only source for local news, high school sports, photos, events, crime and more in Monroe County, MI.